Kodama, M, Kodama, T, Murakami, M · In vivo (Athens, Greece) · 1996
This 1996 study examined whether high-dose vitamin C infusions, with or without a hormone called DHEA added, could help treat ME/CFS. Researchers treated 313 patients with chronic pneumonia-like illness that matched ME/CFS symptoms, often combined with antibiotics. The authors found that the combination of two types of vitamin C infusions worked better than one type alone, suggesting that low levels of certain body hormones might play a role in ME/CFS.
This early study hypothesizes that deficiencies in endogenous glucocorticoids and androgens may contribute to ME/CFS pathogenesis, an area deserving continued research. The observation that hormone-modulating approaches may provide symptomatic benefit warrants investigation in contemporary, well-controlled trials with standardized ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.
This study does not establish causation between hormone deficiency and ME/CFS, nor does it prove that vitamin C or DHEA infusions are effective treatments—it reports only clinical observations without placebo controls or objective biomarker validation. The conflation of chronic pneumonia with ME/CFS criteria raises questions about diagnostic accuracy, and the role of antibiotics versus infusions cannot be separated. Findings cannot be generalized beyond the specific 1995 outbreak population studied.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Kodama, M, Kodama, T, & Murakami, M (1996). The value of the dehydroepiandrosterone-annexed vitamin C infusion treatment in the clinical control of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). II. Characterization of CFS patients with special reference to their response to a new vitamin C infusion treatment.. In vivo (Athens, Greece). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8986468/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kodama-1996-value-dehydroepiandrosterone-2,
author = {Kodama, M and Kodama, T and Murakami, M},
title = {The value of the dehydroepiandrosterone-annexed vitamin C infusion treatment in the clinical control of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). II. Characterization of CFS patients with special reference to their response to a new vitamin C infusion treatment.},
journal = {In vivo (Athens, Greece)},
year = {1996},
note = {PubMed: 8986468},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kodama-1996-value-dehydroepiandrosterone-2},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kodama-1996-value-dehydroepiandrosterone-2
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.